In this preliminary report, we shall discuss the methodological problem of analyzing the group structure, especially sociometric structure. The first two sections consist of the brief review of the traditional and recent approaches to the analysis of the sociometric structure. The selection of topics chosen, is entirely ours, and we are well aware that many important areas have had to be omitted. Thus, we restrict attention to the methodological aspects of the anlayiss of sociometric structure and concentrate on showing why we are trying to elaborate a new model for the analysis of change in sociometric structure as a whole over time, which is introduced breifly in section 3. While our presentation deals with sociometric structures, it should be remembered that many of these models are not limited to sociometric structures.

How do the development of capitalism and the concentration of power in the national state affect the ways that ordinary people contend, or fail to contend, for their interests? In the era of capitalism and strong states, how does the set of means that ordinary people employ in pursuing their shared interests change? Our research group at the New School for Social Research is pursuing both questions historically in hopes of better understanding large, long changes in prevailing forms of conflict, including changes that are going on today.

Social scientists often discuss the possibility of a meaningful tie between general ideology and research methodology. Though there is very little literature on the subject, specific examples of association or opposition between ideology and methodology do appear (Wellman, 1986). This specifically cited case tends to confirm that Marxist ideology and network analysis are associated in the minds of certain sociologists. There are indeed ties between Marxism and network analysis but they are far more complex than the simplistic equation identifying analysis of elites, structural critics of capitalism, network analysis, and Marxism (Richardson & Wellman, 1985). A brief historical review of the development of network analysis in the English speaking world and its concomitant lack of development in Europe and the French-speaking world in particular, serves as a clear counterexample.